Dmitry Bivol says he must “throw more punches” for him to defeat undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev in their DAZN PPV rematch this Saturday, February 22nd in Riyadh. Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) knows that he’s going to have to be busier than their first fight on October 12th, and that’s going to put him at risk of getting hit by Beterbiev’s powerful shots.
A New Approach?
If Bivol is serious about wanting to throw more, this fight should be more exciting than the first one. The previous one lacked action due to his constant movement in the second half.
Bivol looked pretty bruised up last time and still appears to have swelling under his eyes from that fight. If he stays in the pocket to throw more, he’ll need to handle Beterbiev’s shots without taking a beating. Even with Dmitry running most of the second half, he physically looked like a wreck at the end.
Bivol seems angry with himself about his performance, and you can tell that he wants to change things up in the rematch. It’s questionable whether he can without getting knocked out by Beterbiev. In the only round of the fight in which Bivol stood his ground in the seventh, he took punishment and was hurt. That round showed that Bivol wasn’t able to be stationary.
He didn’t have the chin to take the powerful counters that Beterbiev was hitting him with. The difference was that Artur could take his shots, but he lacked the chin to withstand his.
“I won, I lost, it doesn’t matter. I’m just not happy that it’s a close fight,” said Dmitry Bivol to Top Rank Boxing, reflecting on his loss to Artur Beterbiev on October 12th last year. “If I do my job much more better, then there will be no doubts and excuses for me or for anybody else. I will win this fight and without questions.
“It could be a knockout. It could be by decision, by judges, and just more confident. Of course, I know more about him now. He knows about me more now,” Bivol continued about Beterbiev. “He could be more aggressive. he could be more forward. He could throw more punches.
“I have to gain punches in the ring. I have to throw more punches. I just have to be better,” said Bivol.
